Meet the Top 35+ HR Pros on SnapChat at #SHRM16

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Snapchat is the fastest growing and most popular social network right now, and it is absolutely something that human resources professionals need to be considering. The highest percentage of Snapchat users is h among adults who are 18-24, with 25-34 years not too far behind with an adoption rate of 26%.

More than 75% of Snapchat Users Are 18-54 Years Old

If you work in human resources or recruiting are not getting Snapchat, you are not alone. While adoption and growth is high, Snapchat is still new. Which means there is still time to sign up, start snapping, experiment and most importantly, understand how it’s being used by your employee population, unions and in employee engagement and recruiting. The biggest hurdles on Snapchat are understanding how to use filters, messaging and determining what types of things you want to share with your Snapchat friends. (Here’s a guide to getting started on Snapchat.) It’s important to think about we can use Snapchat not just for learning, connections and relationships but most importantly understand how our employees, candidates and customers are communicating and engaging.

When it comes to technology adoption, human resources pros aren’t at the cusp of all things new. We aren’t considered “innovators,” and that is okay. We are cautious because we are aware that not all consumer technology has a place in the workplace. But personally, I think we might be looking at this the wrong way.

Snapchat’s Place in HR Technology and Workplace Adoption

Employers are adopting and adding new HR and workplace technology to their businesses at a growing pace. A recent report by Bersin found that large companies spending almost 10% of their HR budget on tech. The entire HR software market is over $10 billion in size and many segments are growing at double digit rates. I believe human resource professionals and our senior leadership are more open than ever before to adding tools and technologies to our workplace and HR arsenals. This is driven in part by our expanded technology budgets, our strong economy and the expectations of our employees to have workplace technologies like internal social networks, instant messaging and other HR tech that look, feel and operate like consumer technology and social media.

I love social media and believe that Snapchat in particular provides a new and engaging way to talk to potentially 75% of our workforce, not to mention prospective candidates. Because it’s still in the early adopter stage, HR has an opportunity to be seen as workplace innovators alongside big brands and influencers who are just starting to use this new social media channel and technology.

This year at SHRM 2016 there are a number of conference attendees who are experimenting with Snapchat and leading the way for HR. Here’s a list of 33 and counting human resources professionals at SHRM’s annual conference you should reach out to, follow and snap with during #SHRM16. If you are on Snapchat and are attending SHRM’s Annual Conference in Washington, DC., leave a comment and I’ll add you to the list. I’ll be updating it frequently.

Meet the Top 35+ HR Pros on SnapChat at #SHRM16

In developing this list of Snapchat HR professionals I included names, job titles and the person’s Snapchat account. I did this to demonstrate the variety of practitioners and professionals currently on Snapchat. If you are a vendor, I suggest following everyone listed here to get real time insights of practitioners personally and professionally. Understanding the whole person using social media is the best way to build a long-lasting relationship that goes beyond snaps, tweets, videos or pics. Conference speakers can use Snapchat to build a connection with their audience. Bloggers and writers like me can do the same thing. For those of us who are practitioners, Snapchat is a great place to just engage, chat and connect. So let’s get snapping.

Why Snapchat Matters in HR

With Snapchat, it’s not about being a social media ninja, guru or expert. It’s about trying something new and being part of the conversation. It’s about understanding why, how and where the conversations are taking place. Here’s a recent list of Recruiters on Snapchat. At some point we are all newbies when it comes to social media. I’m certainly not an expert on Snapchat. It’s a space that’s changing quickly and that’s what make it fun, interesting and exciting. I’m having fun on Snapchat, but also using my time there to understand why it’s the most popular social media platform, and how I can apply that in my work, whether in candidate engagement, employee engagement directly on the platform or by applying some of the philosophies into my human resources practice and strategy.

Check out our SHRM16 VIP Party Guide by clicking here. We get you the parties and must attend SHRM events first.

Jessica Miller-Merrell is a HR and Recruiting evangelist committed to demystifying the human capital industry. She's the founder of Blogging4Jobs.com & works with employers to disrupt their workplaces with HR & recruiting strategies and technology. Follow her on Twitter, @jmillermerrell and on Snapchat, @jmillermerrell.

Possibly, but I consider anyone currently working from 14 and above to be part of the workforce. I still think Snapchat is a great platform for engagement and to spend time investing in the places where candidates are having conversations. It’s the reason I think most of us recruiters originally got on Facebook and Twitter. Snapchat is the new medium for the same reasons.